Afterlife With Archie Begins a Dark New Storyline

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The horror is just beginning.

By Jesse Schedeen

Life With Archie may be the Archie comic that's attracting the most attention lately, but that doesn't mean big things aren't brewing in the zombie-themed Afterlife With Archie series as well. After a brief hiatus, writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Francesco Francavilla are back to kick off the series' second story arc. And it promises to be an ideal jumping-on point for new readers curious about this darker, deadlier version of Riverdale.

Aguirre-Sacasa says, “Issue 6 is both a stand-alone story, focusing on where Sabrina’s been since the first issue of ‘Afterlife,’ but it also plays into the series’ larger mythology, showing that the zombie apocalypse is only the first wave of horror that will engulf our characters. It’s also an unabashed love letter to one of the greatest American horror writers of all time, H.P. Lovecraft; in fact, he’s a character in the book, which is really an interweaving of two great, iconic American mythologies: Lovecraft’s mythos and Archie’s 75-year history."

He continues, “The final two pages is something we’ve been building to, secretly, since Issue 1, when Sabrina very specifically stole the Necronomicon, which is of course the dark bible of all things Lovecraftian. We hope it’s a game-changer—it’s certainly the most spectacular, shocking two-page spread you’ll see in a comic this year—thanks to Francesco’s art—and hopefully it will blow people’s collective minds and remind them that this is a horror book, not just a zombie book.”

Francavilla elaborates, "It's our best issue yet! Once you will read the story and get to page 23, you'll put it down and will ask yourself "Did I just read THAT in an Archie book? Oh, and you might want to leave the lights on while you read it."

Scroll down for a preview of this issue, featuring several new pages not seen before. Afterlife With Archie #6 will be released on Wednesday, July 23 with a cover price of $2.99.